Novelty yarn



Feb. 8, 1966 E. BILSKY NOVELTY YARN Original Filed Aug. 31, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 E- BILSKY NOVELTY YARN Feb. 8, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Aug. 31, 1959 E- BILSKY NOVELTY YARN Feb. 8, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Original Filed Aug. 31, 1959 United States Patent C) ice 3,233,399 NOVELTY YARN Earl Bilsky, Cumberland, Md., assignor to Celanese Corporation of America, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Original application Aug. 31, 1959, Ser. No. 836,986, now Patent No. 3,118,269, dated Jan. 21, 1964. Divided and this application Mar. 14, 1963, Ser. No. 270,784 Claims. (Cl. 57140) This is a division of application Serial No. 836,986, filed August 31, 1959, and now US. Patent No. 3,118,269.

This invention relates to bulked or voluminous yarns, and to a process of and means for producing such yarns.

The use of compressed air for the purpose of bulking continuous filament yarns to give it a somewhat more woolly effect or the feel of spun yarn made of staple fibers is well known to the art. To this end, the straightfilament yarn, which may have an initial twist, is fed into a chamber formed in a device commonly referred to as an air jet. Attached to the jet and communicating with the chamber is an inlet pipe for admitting a stream of compressed air. The turbulence of the air flow in the chamber causes the yarn passing therethrough to be whipped about so as to form the individual filaments, prior to their leaving the chamber through a narrow outlet passage, into a multitude of small loops or whorls. If desired, the outlet passage for the loopy yarn may be located eccentrically with respect to the common axis of the yarn inlet passageway and the bulking chamber. The so formed bulked or voluminous yarn, upon leaving the bulking chamber of the jet, preferably impinges against a slanted and smooth-surfaced plate or board which defleets the yarn off to one side of the jet and at the same time tends to make the loops uniform in size as well as to stabilize the loops.

It is an important object of the present invention to provide a novel voluminous yarn the bulkiness of which is considerably more random, i.e., less uniform along the length of the yarn, than that which has been attainable heretofore with the known air jets.

Another object of the present invention is to provide composite bulked yarns of the aforesaid type formed from a plurality of individual yarn ends having like or different colors and combined to give a highly pleasing appearance.

A related object of the present invention is to provide a process of and means for bulking synthetic filament yarn in such a manner as to impart to the yarn the desired feel and appearance.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an improved air jet for bulking operations wherein a plurality of yarns may be passed through the bulking chamber simultaneously and subjected to the turbulence conditions existing in the chamber in different ways to bring about an individual bulking of each yarn together with a concurrent entangling of the respective yarns with one another so as to produce the desired novel and highly pleasing effect.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel air jet as aforesaid for imparting to the yarn being bulked a completely randomly distributed bulkiness accompanied by other effects resulting from the sporadic entangling of the component yarns in such a manner that, by adjusting one or more of the jet operating conditions, the appearance of the composite yarn may be varied.

More specifically, in accordance with the present invention two yarns are separately fed at predetermined overfeed rates into a jet bulking chamber into which comprossed air is at the same time being admitted. Desirably a deflector board is positioned directly across the outlet end of the bulking chamber so as to create in the latter 3,233,399 Patented Feb. 8, 1966 a high order of turbulence. The deflector board is releasably supported by the jet and can be replaced by boards inclined at different angles relative to the plane of the outlet opening of the bulking chamber, whereby the turbulence conditions created in the bulking chamber may be correspondingly varied. Yarn inlet tubes are arranged at an angle relative to the axis of the bulking chamber at the opposite sides of the latter and thus to the initial direction of flow of the compressed .air, but they may be adjusted axially of themselves as well as rotationally to vary locations at which the component yarns enter the air stream, as well as to vary the relative directions of movement of the yarns as the same leave the inlet tubes. While not wishing to be bound thereby, it is believed that as the yarns whip about within the chamber intermittently they are shielded from the direct blast of the bulking fluid by the yarn inlet tubes themselves, and this intermittent shielding may in part be responsible for the intermittent character of the bulking within each of the initial yarns. Preferably the inner ends of the yarn inlet tubes are cut obliquely at an angle such that the minimum angle defined between them (FIG. 2) is about 20 to Obviously the angle of each end will depend upon the inclination of the tubes.

The foregoing and other objects, characteristics and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description thereof when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded isometric view of the novel air jet constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the assembled jet of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elevationalview of the assembled jet as seen from the right-hand side of FIG. 1, the jet housing being partly broken away to illustrate interior details of the jet;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 44 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of one type of bulked yarn produced in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic illustration of a complete apparatus for carrying out the yarn bulking process according to the present invention with the aid of the jet shown in FIGS. 1 to 4.

Referring now to the drawings in greater detail, it will be seen that the jet 10 according to the present invention comprises a substantially block-shaped housing 11, made of metal or a suitable hard, synthetic plastic or resinous material at the opposite ends of which are formed a relatively narrow bore 12 and a relatively Wider bore 13. The bore 12 extends entirely through the housing 11 from the bottom thereof to the top, but the bore 13 extends from the bottom of the housing only about twothirds of the way toward the top. The bore 13 communicates at its upper end with a bore 14 axially aligned therewith and of considerably smaller diameter or crosssectional Width, the bore 14 at its upper end communicating with the base of a counterbore 15 provided in the top of the housing 11.

Rotatably received within the narrower bore 12 is a cylindrical shaft 16 to the lowermost end of which is atfixed a plate 17 disposed in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the shaft 16. Extending from one side of the plate 17 is a board 18 which is inclined downwardly from the plane of the plate 17 for a purpose which will be more fully explained hereinafter. The axial length of the shaft 16 is greater than the axial length of the bore 12, so that when the plate 17 abuts against the bottom of against the deflector board.

the housing 11, the upper end of the shaft projects above the housing. The shaft is prevented from falling down and out of the housing 11 by means of a head-forming annular member 19 fitted over the upper end of the shaft and aflixed thereto by means of a set screw 20. Surrounding the shaft "in intermediate the uppermost surface of the housing 11 and the lower surface of the head member 19 is a compression spring 21 which biases the head member and the shaft upwardly so as to keep the plate 17 flush against and in sliding engagement with the bottom of the housing 11. The deflector board unit consisting: of shaft 16, plate 17 and board 18 thus can be angularly' displaced to position the board 18 either across the lowermost end of the bore 13 to any desired extent or completely away from the said bore end.

The means for conducting the bulking fluid, e.g. corer. pressed air, into'the bore 13 comprises a fitting 22 provided with an axial bore 23 and external threads or: grooves 24. The lowermost end of the fitting 22 is fitted. into the bore and is welded, soldered, brazed or otherwise affixed to the top of the housing 11. The bore 23 of the fitting 22, therefore, is in communication with the bore 14 and therethrough with the bore 13.

The housing 11 is further provided at its opposite sides with a pair of short bores 25 and 26 which are located on opposite sides of the fitting 22 and bore 13 and extend from the top of the housing angularly inwardly toward the common axis of the fitting and the bore 13. The bores 25 and 26 communicate with the bore 13 at the upper end edge of the latter. The axes of the bores 25'- and 26 and the axis of the bore 13 are coplanar with one another, and the angular inclinations of the bores 25 and 26 relative to the axis of the bore 13 are substantially equal.

Mounted in the bores 25 and 26, respectively, are two tubular elements 27 and 28 constituting the means for providing access for the source yarns to the bore 13. To this end, the tubular elements 27 and 23 are provided with central bores 2% and 30 and with respective end faces 31 and 32 the planes of which are oriented obliquely to the axes of the bores '29 and 30. At their ends op posite the slanted faces 31 and 32, the tubes 27 and 28 have enlarged heads 33 and 34 which are provided with axial bores 35 and 36 of larger diameter than the tubes 27 and 28. Seated in-the bores 35 and 36 of the heads 33 and 34 are annular inserts 37 and '38 formed with axial bores 39 and 40 of somewhat larger diameter than the bores 29 and 30 of the tubes 27 and 28. The latter may be fixed in their respective axial and angular positions within the bores 25 and 26 by means of set screws 41 and-42. The inserts 37 and 38 are made of any suitable abrasion resistant material, such as nylon, hardened steel, aluminum magnesium silicate, or the like so as to render them more resistant to the considerable abrasive action of the yarns on their paths into the jet.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that the bore 13 of the housing 11 is adapted to constitute a yarn bulking chamber whenever the deflector board 18 is positioned across the lowermost and outlet end of the bore. Under this condition, any fluid which is admitted into the bore 13 through the fitting 22 and bore 14 impinges Inasmuch as this fluid cannot flow unrestrictedly out of the chamber, the flow conditions within the chamber become turbulent, the magnitude and character of such turbulence depending, to a certain extent, on the angular inclination of the deflector board away from the bottom of the housing 11, i.e., on the degree of constriction of the flow path of the fluid out of the chamber, and to a certain extent on the positions of the yarn inlet tubes 27 and 28 in the path of flow of the fluid.

The bulking fluid, as hereinbefore stated, may be compressed air, either cool or hot and either dry or moist, or steam under pressures ranging from atmospheric to many pounds superatmospheric, or any other gaseous medium.

' Where steam is used the heat of the steam may be utilized in setting the loops and curls formed in the yarn filaments.

It will further be understood that by adjustment of the yarn inlet tubes 27 and 28 angularly and/ or axially within their respective bores 25 and 26, any desired relative positioning of the slanted faces 31 and 32 of the tubes may be attained, which leads to a number of interesting results and operational possibilities. For example, with the tubes in the position shown in FIG. 3, the yarns exiting from the respective bores 27 and 28 thereof are initially directed along respective paths meeting at the point of intersection of the inlet tube axes, while the bulking fluid would be deflected by the adjacent tube ends'to flow around the same before impinging against the yarns and the board -18. On the other hand, the yarns would be directed along (different nelative paths of movement if one or both of the inlet tubes were rotated through a predetermined angle about their respective axes, and simultaneously such a relative rotation would vary the state of turbulence of the bulking fluid intermediate and adjacent the discharge ends of the tubes 27 and 28. Thus, the bulking action of the fluid on the yarns would be different than it is with the tubes arranged as shown in FIG. 3. A similar variation of the turbulence could be efiected by an axial separation (upward adjustment) of the tubes 27 and 28.

It is, therefore, possible to adjust and varythe manner in which the yarn filaments may be entangled with one another. The arrangement is such that the component yarns are bulked or slubbed only intermittently and completely at random independently of one another, and theresulting composite yarn, especially if the individual source yarns are of diflerent colors, gives a novel and highly pleasing colorful efiect.

The complete process of producing the novelty yarn according to the present invention is best illustrated in FIG. 6. As there shown, two source yarns 43 and 44, which may be similarly or differently colored are drawn from respective supply spools or bobbins 45 and 46 through a pair of guides 47 and 48 by any suitable drive roll mechanism comprising, for example, a rubber nip roll 49 and a steel roll 50. While the yarns 43 and 44 need not have an initial twist, if of the multifllament type they are advantageously provided with at least about 0.5 to 1 turn per inch. Actually one or both of the yarns may be of the staple type, provided they have suflicient twist to prevent their being blown apart completely. The drive roll mechanism 49-50 feeds these yarns into the bulking chamber 13 of the jet 10 shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 through the inlet tubes 27 and 28 thereof. In the bulking chamber, the yarns are violently tossed about in a random fashion due to the turbulent flow of the compressed air or other bulking fluid within the chamber as determined by the positioning ofthe tubes and the deflector board-t8, to form in the individual filaments of the yarnsrandomly spaced sets of loops and curls and to entangle the filaments of each yarn with the filaments of the other yarn. The so entangled filaments leave the bulking chamber 13 as a composite yarn 51 through the bottom of the chamber along with spent air and impinge against the deflector board 18 which serves as means for preliminarily stabilizing these loops and curls. Depending upon the exact conditions the impinging filaments may not actually contact the deflector board, being separated therefrom by a thin cushion of air.

The bulked product yarn 51 which is deflected by the board 18 is drawn through a pigtailguide 52 by a pair of delivery rolls 53 and is fed by the latter through another pigtail guide 54 to a ring rail 55 for the winding up of the yarn onto a take-up spool 56. It will be understood that this winding action imparts a twist to the yarn 51 and further stabilizes the latter against separation of the filaments and destruction of the slub-like sets of loops, curls or similar deformations produced in the air jet.

As clearly shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the composite product yarn 51 upon leaving the jet 1%) has-a plurality of relatively straight portions 51a alternating with a plurality of randomly spaced expanded portions 51b constituted by the respective sets of loops and curls formed in the jet. At any given location, the set of loops or curls may be formed in its entirety from the filaments of one of the yarns or from the filaments of both yarns together, and thus any given set of loops and curls will generally differ in size from almost any other set of loops and curls. From the foregoing description, furthermore, it will be clear that changes in this novelty effect, i.e., the random spacing and size distribution of the sets of loops and curls 51b, can be brought about in a variety of Ways. Merely by Way of example, such changes may be caused by changing the pressure of the bulking fluid, by employing a different type of bulking fluid, and by varying the types and deniers of the supply or source yarns fed into the jet. Moreover, it is possible to bring about changes in the novelty effect of the yarn 51 by adjusting the rate of overfeed of the source yarns, i.e., the ratio of the driving speed of the rolls 4950 to the driving speed of the rolls 53, and by changing the amount of twist given either to the source yarns prior to the bulking thereof or to the product yarn during the winding thereof onto the take-up spool 56.

The construction of the jet according to the present invention renders available other ways of producing changes in the novelty effect of the product yarn. Thus, the releasable mounting of the deflector board unit on the housing 11 enables any deflector board 18 to be removed from the housing by separating the head member 19 from the shaft 16, whereupon a different deflector board unit can be mounted on the housing 11 so as to make use of a deflector board 13 which has a different inclination to the horizontal than does the deflector board shown in FIGS. 1 to 4. For the purposes of the present invention, there may be provided a set of deflector board units for use with the jet 10 which have the deflector boards inclined at angles from about 10 to about 45 to the horizontal. In this manner, the turbulence conditions existing within the bulking chamber can be adjusted to produce any desired effect. As already set forth hereinabove, adjustment of the yarn inlet tubes 27 and 28 can also be employed to produce variations in the appearance of the product yarn 51.

Although the present invention has so far been described only in connection with the formation of a composite bulk yarn from two source yarns, it is to be understood that it is contemplated in accordance with the invention to form product yarns from more than two source yarns. This may be accomplished by the use of the jet 10 simply by feeding at least two different yarns through one of the inlet tubes 27 and 28 and at least one other yarn through the other of the inlet tubes. However, it is also within the contemplation of the present invention that more than two yarn inlet tubes may be provided, such tubes being mounted in respective inclined bores spaced about the bulking fluid inlet nipple or fitting 22. As a corollary of the foregoing, of course, the product yarn 51 may have more than two colors.

The following examples will serve to more clearly illustrate the nature of the present invention.

Example 1 Using the apparatus shown in the drawings, into each plug there are fed a black 200/55 Z/ 104 and a yellow 900/1 Z/120 cellulose acetate yarn at 50 feet per minute. Air under a pressure of 40 -p.s.i.g. is fed into the jet 10 equipped with a deflector board 18 inclined at an angle of about to the horizontal. The product yarn formed in the jet is drawn out of the latter by a pair of drive rolls 53 driven at 40 feet per minute. The product yarn is taken up on the ring spinner with 3 Z turns p ch.

Example II The process of Example I is repeated feeding through each yarn inlet tube a black 300/5 Z/ cellulose acetate yarn, a pewter 900/ 2 Z/240 cellulose acetate yarn and an aqua 900/ 2 Z/240 cellulose acetate yarn. The product has a final denier of 5141.

While the invention has been illustrated with reference to cellulose acetate, yarns of other filamentary materials can be similarly treated, e.g. other organic acid esters of cellulose such as cellulose propionate, cellulose butyrate, cellulose acetate propionate, cellulose acetate butyrate, cellulose triacetate, nylon, silk, polyethylene terephthalate, polymers and copolymers of vinylidene monomers such 'as acrylonitrile, vinyl acetate, vinyl chloride, vinylidene chloride, ethylene, propylene, and the like.

The composite yarn produced in accordance with the present invention is adapted for use in a wide variety of articles. Merely by Way of example, such yarn can be employed as the pile for carpeting, in the production of drapes and curtains, upholstery coverings, and articles of clothing such as sweaters etc., but it will be appreciated that such yarn also has general utility wherever bulked yarns have heretofore been used.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is given merely by way of illustration and that many variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A novelty bulked yarn comprising a plurality of source yarns, each of said source yarns having a configuration containing a plurality of straight sections separated by a plurality of randomly spaced bulk sections comprised of loops and and curls extending substantially laterally of said straight sections, the configuration of each of said yarns being independent of the configurations of the other of said yarns and the bulk sections of each of said yarns being entangled with the other of said yarns.

2. A bulked yarn according to claim 1, said filaments being additionally twisted about one another.

3. A novelty bulked filament yarn comprising a plurality of multifilament source yarns, each of said source yarns having a configuration containing a plurality of straight sections separated by a plurality of randomly spaced and sized bulk sections comprised of loops and curls projecting substantially laterally of said straight sect-ions, the configuration of each of said yarns being in dependent of the configurations of the other of said yarns and the bulk sections of each of said yarns being entangled with the other of said yarns.

4. A bulked yarn according to claim 3, said source yarns being addition-ally twisted about one another.

5. A bulked yarn according to claim 3, wherein at least some of said source yarns are differently colored.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,783,609 3/1957 Breen 57- 34 2,852,906 9/1958 Breen 5734 2,874,444 2/1959 Griset 57'34 2,874,445 2/ 1959 Griset 5734 2,924,000 2/ 1960 Griset et al. 57-34 2,931,090 4/1960 Field 57-34 3,007,298 11/1961 Williams et al. 5734 3,017,737 1/ 1962 Breen 57-34 3,091,913 6/1963 Field 57-34 3,105,349 10/1963 Palm et al. 5734 3,113,413 12/1963 Jacobs et al. 57-34 FOREIGN PATENTS 557,020 10/ 1957 Belgium.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A NOVELTY BULKED YARN COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF SOURCE YARNS, EACH OF SAID SOURCE YARNS HAVING A CONFIGURATION CONTAINING A PLURALITY OF STRAIGHT SECTIONS SEPARATED BY A PLURALITY OF RANDOMLY SPACED BULK SECTIONS COMPRISED OF LOOPS AND AND CURLS EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY LATERALLY OF SAID STRAIGHT SECTIONS, THE CONFIGURATION OF 